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ExploitedIn CISA KEVFix available

CVE-2019-13272

Exploitation confirmed. First attested on 2021-12-10 by CISA-ADP, CISA KEV, GCVE · kevintel.

  • Published2019-07-17
  • Fixed in5.1.17 · 4.19.58 · 4.14.133 · 4.9.185 · 4.9 · 4.4.185

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

In the Linux kernel before 5.1.17, ptrace_link in kernel/ptrace.c mishandles the recording of the credentials of a process that wants to create a ptrace relationship, which allows local users to obtain root access by leveraging certain scenarios with a parent-child process relationship, where a parent drops privileges and calls execve (potentially allowing control by an attacker). One contributing factor is an object lifetime issue (which can also cause a panic). Another contributing factor is incorrect marking of a ptrace relationship as privileged, which is exploitable through (for example) Polkit's pkexec helper with PTRACE_TRACEME. NOTE: SELinux deny_ptrace might be a usable workaround in some environments.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2019-07-17Exploit-DB entryExploit-DB
  2. 2019-07-1713:15CVE publishedNVD
  3. 2021-12-10Added to the CISA KEV catalogCISA KEV
  4. 2021-12-10Listed as exploited by GCVEGCVE
  5. 2021-12-10Exploitation first reportedCISA KEV
  6. 2025-02-0420:35SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-03 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2019-13272?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2019-13272?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Linux linux kernel
BranchAffectedFixed in
5.1≥ 4.20, < 5.1.175.1.17
4.x≥ 4.15, < 4.19.584.19.58
4.x≥ 4.10, < 4.14.1334.14.133
4.9≥ 4.9.1, < 4.9.1854.9.185
4.x≥ 4.8.16, < 4.94.9
4.4≥ 4.4.40, < 4.4.1854.4.185
4.x≥ 4.1.39, < 4.24.2
3.16≥ 3.16.52, < 3.16.713.16.71
Redhat enterprise linux for real time for nfv tus
BranchAffectedFixed in
8.2= 8.2no fix published
8.4= 8.4no fix published
8.6= 8.6no fix published
8.8= 8.8no fix published
Redhat enterprise linux for real time tus
BranchAffectedFixed in
8.2= 8.2no fix published
8.4= 8.4no fix published
8.6= 8.6no fix published
8.8= 8.8no fix published

19 more products in the sources.

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • kernelRed Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosall versions · fixed in 0:4.18.0-80.7.2.el8_0and 32 other packages
  • kernelRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::serverall versions · fixed in 0:4.14.0-115.12.1.el7aand 19 other packages
  • kernel-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crball versions · fixed in 0:4.18.0-80.7.2.el8_0and 9 other packages
  • kernel-defaultSUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 12 SP3all versions · fixed in 4.4.180-94.107.1
  • kernel-defaultSUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 12 SP2all versions · fixed in 4.4.121-92.125.1
  • kernel-livepatch-SLE15_Update_11SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15all versions · fixed in 5-2.1
  • kernel-livepatch-SLE15_Update_8SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15all versions · fixed in 7-2.3
  • kernel-livepatch-SLE15_Update_9SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15all versions · fixed in 6-2.3and 1 other package

86 more package ranges on OSV.dev

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2019-13272 Red Hat Product Security180 products fixed

    kernel: broken permission and object lifetime handling for PTRACE_TRACEME

  • RHSA-2019:2809 Red Hat Product Security26 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel-alt security, bug fix, and enhancement update

  • RHSA-2019:2411 Red Hat Product Security120 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security update

  • RHSA-2019:2405 Red Hat Product Security34 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel-rt security update

Full record on NVD

Fix

  1. Update Linux linux kernel to 5.1.17 · 4.19.58 · 4.14.133 · 4.9.185 · 4.9 · 4.4.185 · 4.2 · 3.16.71
  2. CISA’s required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.due 2022-06-10
  3. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2019:2809 · 26 productsFor details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258 The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.
  4. Workaround from the vendor Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2019:2809 · 26 productsFor mitigation, please refer to the Red Hat Knowledgebase article: https://access.redhat.com/articles/4292201

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-11-03 22:42 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
EDB-47133EDB-47163EDB-47543EDB-50541
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
19 repositories, unverifiedjas502n/CVE-2019-13272Cyc1eC/CVE-2019-13272bigbigliang-malwarebenchmark/cve-2019-13272oneoy/CVE-2019-13272polosec/CVE-2019-13272
PoC-in-GitHub
Metasploit modules
1 moduleexploit/linux/local/ptrace_traceme_pkexec_helperrank: excellentModule metadata: Metasploit Framework, © Rapid7, Inc., BSD-3-Clause.
Metasploit Framework

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2021-12-10
Patch Due Date
2022-06-10
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Required Action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2019-07-17
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Analyzed
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-13272?

In the Linux kernel before 5.1.17, ptrace_link in kernel/ptrace.c mishandles the recording of the credentials of a process that wants to create a ptrace relationship, which allows local users to obtain root access by leveraging certain scenarios with a parent-child process relationship, where a parent drops privileges and calls execve (potentially allowing control by an attacker). One contributing factor is an object lifetime issue (which can also cause a panic). Another contributing factor is incorrect marking of a ptrace relationship as privileged, which is exploitable through (for example) Polkit's pkexec helper with PTRACE_TRACEME. NOTE: SELinux deny_ptrace might be a usable workaround in some environments.

Is CVE-2019-13272 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2019-13272 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 2022-06-10.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-13272?

CVE-2019-13272 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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Sources for this record